Georgia O'Keeffe—Torso 1918 - 1919

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Georgia O’Keeffe’s torso using a camera, of course, and a very particular sensibility for light and form. Look at how the light models her body. It’s all soft transitions, the subtle gradations making it feel almost sculptural. The tones are muted, sepia-like. There's a softness in the shadows that caresses the curves of her breasts and hips, turning flesh into an almost abstract landscape. The framing is tight, cropped, so we’re invited to see the body not as a whole but as a collection of shapes. The composition encourages us to focus on texture and light. You can almost feel the smoothness of her skin, the way the light catches on the curve of her belly. Thinking about the work of other photographers who were also exploring the nude at this time, like Edward Weston for example, there is a sensuality to this image, but it feels more intimate, more like a love letter, than an objective study.